Are you ready for some NY JETS FAN CLUB FOOTBALL?

What’s up New York Jets Fan Club of Tampa Bay??? How the heck is everyone?

I know I’ve gone dark and been M.I.A. for some time now but I’ve been crazy busy with work and life in general, ya know.

Anyway I figured better get off my ass and get to this ASAP as our beloved New York Jets take the field in just a few days. I’ve got A LOT to tell you about so get ready. I’ll try to keep it as short and sweet as possible.

Here’s what’s inside:

Week 1 activities

Opening Day at Peabody’s

Reservations

Group Photo

Bring a rookie to opening day.

Raffle

Donations

Volunteers Needed

New Peabody’s Drink Specials – “The Season Pass”

Join our 5th Annual Survivor Pool

Marty Lyons Foundation 11th Annual John Brogle Golf Outing

Week 1 Information

Opening Day Details

Opening Day, as always, will be at Peabody’s (in the Palms). We are expecting a huge crowd as is the norm for opening day. Please arrive early or be prepared to stand.

Seating Reservations

Like last year we will have tables reserved for Fan Club Hall of Fame Members and other week-in and week-out regulars. Please respect these signs as it has been these long time loyal regulars that have helped us grow the club to the size it is now. These reserved seats are a thank you for all the time, dedication and money they have spent supporting the club over the last 11 years.

However this year, we will begin taking reservations for some of the other seats and tables in the house. I’m not sure how long we will do this for or if it will just be for big games where we expect a big crowd. Ether way we are giving it a shot. Half of the proceeds from reserved seats will go to the Marty Lyons Foundation (more about the MLF golf outing later in this email).

Here’s the seating chart for the main area of the room. The green seats are the ones currently reserved for some of our members and the blue tables can be reserved at the prices listed below. Please understand that we have limited space and limited reservations so this will be on a first come / first served basis. You will need to contact me directly to make reservation arrangements at 888-NY-JETS-1 (888-695-3871).

Annual Group Photo

Bring your Jets Green and your smile as once again, Fan Club Member and photographer extraordinaire Bobbee Broderick of B&B Photography will be bringing his equipment to take a huge group shot of everyone. You DO NOT want to miss the opportunity to be in this years photo (right David Innocenti?).

Bring a Rookie

I would like to invite each of you to reach out to one or more friends that have not yet experienced a Jets game with the Fan Club and have them come to Peabody’s for the game. We all know how much fun it is to be with fellow Jets fans and we love the Rookie’s too. So if you can, reach out to someone and tell them to join you for the game. Pushing towards 800 members this year so let’s get some more rookies in the door every week.

50/50 Raffle

Mark was our first Raffle Winner ever.

We will again be running our 50/50 raffle and we’ll be giving away a bunch of Jets stuff at halftime every week. Tickets are:

$1 for 1 Ticket

$3 for 5 Tickets

$5 for 10 Tickets

$10 for 25 Tickets

$20 for 60 Tickets

Winner gets half the cash. Other prizes awarded as well based on ticket numbers drawn. Last year the opening day winner went home with over $400!!!

Raffle Item Donations

If you have ANY Jets related items that you’d like to contribute to the fan club’s raffle to be given away as a prize, please let me know and bring it with you. It could be anything at all (maybe you got a duplicate of something as a gift? Maybe you got a shirt that doesn’t fit? If you can’t use it but you think some other fan might like it, please bring it). One persons trash is another persons treasure right. All donations are very much appreciated.

Volunteers Needed

I’m looking to put together an advisory board of 3-5 people (or more) who can take on some of the responsibility of the club both during the season and during the off-season. If you are in the Tampa Bay area and are interested in being a part of the growth of the fan club, please let me know.

We need to start planning for the season and for the Jets / Bucs game that will take place here in Tampa next season. We plan on making this next Tailgate as epic as the last one. Are you interested in helping us make that happen?

Finding Club Sponsors around town to add value to Membership Card Holders or to advertise on the clubs site,

“Owning” an idea and implementing it (like Maverick does with Fantasy Football or Secret Santa).

In general, I’d like to build a team of people in the Tampa area willing to help the club continue to grow and be the place to be if you can’t be at the game. Not just on Sunday’s but throughout the rest of the year as well.

5th Annual Survivor Pool

Once again we will be running our annual Survivor Pool. The best part about a Survivor Pool is that you don’t really have to know too much about football stats or players to get involved, have some fun and maybe win a few bucks too. You simple pick a single team each week. If your team wins you move onto the next week If they lose you are out. The catch is you CAN NOT pick the same team twice in the season. The last person left standing is the sole survivor and gets all the loot collected.

However, The Season Ticket package is a better deal. It gets you 1 free drink each week plus $1.25 Miller & Coors Light drafts for every weekly game day, select pricing on a bunch of drinks and 15% off food. It’s normally going to be $100 but they are offering anyone in the Fan Club a special price of $80 instead of $100. They will also have a Daily Access Pass for $20 $12 that gets you all the perks but just for the day.

Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing a Season Pass from Peabody’s as the Marketing Manager will need to know your name, email and t-shirt sizes for anyone who signs up.

Click the image below for all the details.

Marty Lyons Foundation 11th Annual John Brogle Golf Outing

Got an email from Club Member Rich Lyons (brother of Sack Exchange member and Jets great Marty Lyons regarding the annual John Brogle Golf Outing. Maverick and I went a few years ago and met Marty and former Jets Safety Ken Schroy as well as Wade Boggs. It’s for a great cause (The Marty Lyons Foundation) and we love to be a supporter of the foundation all season long.

Here’s the details on the Golf outing.

First of all, many thanks to the golfers and sponsors that have already registered to participate in and support our 11th Annual John Brogle Golf Outing to be held in Pinellas Country in Seminole at the Bardmoor Golf & Tennis Club on Monday, October 10th.

This email is a reminder that we have less than a month to sign up golfers at a discounted pricing for foursomes and individuals. Our foursome cost is $500, and our single golfer cost is $125. We have our website set up to accommodate golfer registration. Please visit our website at http://www.martylyonsfoundation.org/events/11th-annual-john-brogle-golf-outing/. I have attached the golfer registration form for those who prefer paper. Don’t forget to list handicaps … it will save me an additional email. 😉

Our outing will feature:

Breakfast

Morning scramble with an 8:30 AM shotgun start

Lunch

Afternoon awards and recognition ceremony.

We are planning both raffles and silent auction and we have some fabulous hole-in-one prizes: one $10K in cash and three golfing getaways – Hawaii for two golfers; Las Vegas for two golfers, and Lajitas Golf Resort (Big Bend, Texas) for four golfers. Unfortunately, airfare for the getaways is not included.

If you do not golf, please consider signing up to be a volunteer at the outing. We will be setting up the club house on Sunday as we have a morning start on Columbus Day.

If you do not golf and cannot volunteer, please consider becoming a sponsor or making a donation to our golfer’s goody bag, raffle or silent auction. Please consider a tax deductible sponsorship at any level – a favorite is the hole sign sponsorship in personal thanks for healthy children or grandchildren that will never need a wish from the Marty Lyons Foundation. I have attached sponsorship and donation forms for your use.

I look forward to seeing you at the outing and offer my sincere thanks for all you have done in the past to help make my job as the Florida Chapter President rewarding and worthwhile.

If you have any questions, drop me an email! Please feel free to share this email with your golfing friends, neighbors, and relatives.

Many thanks,

Rich

Here’s Rich’s contact info if you need additional details or are simply interested in making a donation to this wonderful charity. Contact me if you’d like the PDF’s.

My given name may be Steve but my friends have been calling me Festa for the last 30 years. While I really miss going to all the JETS home games and tailgating with a large group of friends, it’s really great being here in Tampa around other JETS fans while we root for our team. When I founded the fan club in October of 2004 I never imagined it would become as massive as it now has with over 600 members from around the world and sister Fan Club Chapters in 4 other Florida cities and growing.